


The one and only Escape Attempt

by Canadiantardis



Series: Whumptober 2020 [5]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Escape Attempt, Established Relationship, Government Experimentation, M/M, One Shot, Polyamory, Separations, Solitary Confinement
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:07:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26430889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Canadiantardis/pseuds/Canadiantardis
Summary: The klaxon blared overhead. Feet unused to running after so long shuffling and skidding as adrenaline kept them upright, kept them going. Virgil held them both by the wrists, keeping point. He refused to let them go, afraid they would fall behind or get caught without alerting him.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Deceit | Janus Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders
Series: Whumptober 2020 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1920886
Comments: 12
Kudos: 44





	The one and only Escape Attempt

**Author's Note:**

> Day 5: Failed Escape  
> This was just fun to write.

The klaxon blared overhead. Feet, unused to running after so long shuffling and skidding as adrenaline kept them upright, kept them going. Virgil held them both by the wrists, keeping point. He refused to let them go, afraid they would fall behind or get caught without alerting him.

They turned a corner to see a small squad of guards searching. One spotted them and pointed, and Virgil changed tracks, his heart in his throat. They ran the opposite direction. There had to be an exit somewhere close to here, Janus had been so certain!

“V… V, I can’t…” Patton wheezed when they came upon a branching corridor and they had slowed down, Virgil trying to figure out where they had to go. “I can’t…”

“We can’t stop,” Virgil glanced at him and saw how red his face was, how he struggled to get enough air in his lungs. “We can’t, not yet, we have to get out.”

“Stop!” Guards shouted from behind, and Virgil made the decision to take the right corridor.

He tugged the other two along, but he could tell they were all falling behind. Adrenaline could only get them so far, and it felt as if they were running in circles.

Janus shouted in pain before he was yanked from Virgil’s grip. Immediately, he pushed Patton to a wall as they turned around quickly to see a guard kneeling over Janus, digging their knee into his back.

“Go-ah!” He shouted, and Virgil began pushing Patton, both of them staring at the teen.

It was all the distraction the guards needed before they blocked off all the exits from the corridor. Virgil held Patton as close as he could as they were both grabbed, the guards forcing them apart. Patton screamed when Virgil’s arm was wrenched away and Virgil couldn’t see him or Janus over the guards surrounding them. He could only hear them before they were gagged.

Virgil struggled, snapping at the hands but couldn’t find any purchase with the thick, thick gloves they wore, and he felt a pinch at his neck. A moment later, his body gave up the fight. He still tried fighting back, tears springing to his eyes. They had to have been _so close_ to freedom, he had been so certain.

As he was dragged back, further into the facility, the tears fell and he dropped his head to his chest.

* * *

Ten years ago, a six-year-old Virgil had gotten sick. It had apparently been "so strange," these weird doctors came to check on him. They told his mom they would take him to a safe facility to study the sickness, and his poor mom had no reason to believe anything was wrong. She was so sleep deprived working three jobs and taking care of him and making sure they had enough food as well as pay for rent and electricity and water and they couldn’t always have everything, even with the multiple jobs she worked at all hours.

The last time he saw his mom was the day he was taken to the facility. She had kissed his forehead, crying. She promised she loved him, and she’d see him soon. The weird doctors had said he would only be there for a week, a month max.

He wondered if they told her he died. It was the only thing he could think of that would have made her never come looking for him.

He remembered hating her for a bit, resenting her for never saving him. He spent the first year in the facility crying himself to sleep, scared of the weird doctors who made him do weird things. He never understood what they were doing. They made him drink gross medicine, get more shots than he should have gotten. They didn’t like it when he complained. They didn’t like it when he wanted his mom back.

Virgil learned quickly that, whatever this facility was, he was likely going to stay in it until he died, and for the next five years, he almost accepted that fate.

But then he met Janus, another boy who had been tricked in coming here. His parents were too overwhelmed with so many children that they didn’t look at the forms they were given, and next thing he knew, strange men were waiting for him after school and took him away. The eleven-year-old hadn’t seen his family since. He often wondered to Virgil if they even knew he was gone. He had always been one of the quiet middle kids, or so he would tell Virgil.

A year later, Patton was brought in. He had been more of a cry-baby than Virgil had been the first year he had been taken, but then again, he had more cause. He had been taken off the streets. His dad must miss him terribly, but there was no way anyone could find them in the facility. They were designed by the government. It wasn’t like the government was going to help poor parents find their poor children against their own selves. Virgil knew how the guards laughed at them. He knew how the only way out of this place was either to die or find a way out themselves.

The three weren’t allowed to be with one another for very long. They had a specific amount of time, between being locked in their rooms and being in the Room with the medicine and the doctors, where they could be in the Hub. It was like an underground playground. There were many, many other people trapped with them, but until Janus had been brought in, Virgil had been the youngest by almost a full decade. No one wanted to play with him, or talk to him, or even just hold his hand when he got scared.

No one, until Janus and Patton. They were both his age. They both were okay playing with him, though they really rarely played. They sat on the swings that were there, one of them being the pusher while the other two tried to see who could swing the highest. The one who couldn’t swing the highest then became the pusher. Other than that, they mainly talked. They talked about home, school - Virgil had only gotten to kindergarten before he had been taken, and the facility didn’t have school, so Patton decided he’d teach him the alphabet and how to write and read - and what they go through in the Room.

Janus and Patton were the only ones who wanted to hold his hands. When he was scared, when he was happy, when he was bored. They would sometimes even have the entire Hub time allotted to them doing nothing but holding hands and cuddling.

Virgil was fourteen when he had his first kiss, followed immediately by his second and third and fourth with Patton, who was the first to say he liked him and Janus more than friends. Couples were uncommon in the facility, but they were not unallowed. It wasn’t like the facility could stop them from having feelings, from making relationships with the other prisoners.

The trio, however, were a rarity. No one knew the words for what they were. They were in a relationship all together, but 'couple' only meant two. Not that the trio even cared about what to call themselves or their relationship. It was the only thing the doctors could not mess with, no matter how they spoke about how it was disgusting.

Virgil had been fifteen when he told the others about possibly escaping. It could be possible. It had to be possible. The guards and the doctors and the other people working for the facility were only human. They had to make mistakes sometimes. Virgil promised they could use a mistake to get out.

“But you do even know where to go to get out of here?” Janus had asked immediately as he crossed his arms.

“Well, it shouldn’t be too difficult to find. We’re always brought into the middle of the facility, so we… just have to go the opposite direction!” Virgil had explained.

It took another year to wait and try to prepare before they could attempt their escape.

Too bad they never knew where the exit was.

* * *

Virgil was put into solitary, and he had no idea where Janus or Patton were taken. The guards weren’t about to tell him where they were, nor would they speak to him at all.

And not like Virgil could speak anyway. He wore a jacket that trapped his arms in a weird sort of hug and his mouth was gagged and muzzled. He could barely use his lower jaw at all. He wondered if they knew it had been him to have come up with the escape plan, or if the other two had been forced to tell them. Virgil knew, if it had been one of them, they wouldn’t have willingly given the information. Not after they had all been put through over the years.

He sat in a corner of the room, trying his best to to power through whatever attack he was currently feeling. Breathing was difficult during an attack on its own, now it was practically impossible since he could only breathe through his nose.

He felt like an idiot. _Of course_ it would be impossible to escape. _Of course_ they had been caught, but the thought of either Janus or Patton getting hurt because of him scared him. He shouldn’t have gotten them involved. He shouldn’t have had the thought in the first place. Why had he thought they could actually escape the facility? _Why_ did he risk his boyfriends’ safety?

With a high whine, Virgil slammed the back of his head against the padded wall, squeezing his eyes shut as he tried to tune everything out, clear his head, rid the fears for the moment, but found everything too much, too many questions, too many fears, too much unknown, too much, too much.

If his eyes had been opened, he would have noticed how the edges of his vision darkened, tunnelling his view until he finally hyperventilated himself unconscious. The last thought he had was hoping the other two would be okay, and that he’d be able to see them again.

* * *

It was a long time before Virgil was taken out of solitary. He wasn’t sure if it were hours, days, or weeks. He had not been fed or given water, so it couldn’t have been longer than a week, he guessed.

He was put back into his room and things seemed to return to normal, but now… Virgil wasn’t allowed in the Hub. Every time everyone else went to the Hub for their allotted hours, Virgil was taken to the Room.

It was two months before he was finally allowed into the Hub again, but he only saw Patton. It seemed they were not allowed to be together, all three of them. Janus must have taken Virgil’s spot in the Room during Hub time.

They didn’t need to speak, when they saw each other. They simply hugged and held each other close. The older prisoners kept an eye on them, looks of pity and concern often directed at them without their third.

Another two months went by before Virgil saw Janus again, and it was Patton’s turn for the Room during Hub time. The time had changed Janus a lot. He was near-mute, angry, and rough. He would grip Virgil so hard it bruised, yanked his arm so hard he was sure it would fall out of its socket, and held him so tight, it was like he was afraid he would disappear.

Virgil held him just as tightly.

It cycled from there. Virgil, then Janus, then Patton, for two months, over and over. It began a new normal for the trio, but they all longed to be all together again. They wouldn’t try anything besides just holding each other and taking solace in the others presence. Virgil hoped that would one day happen again.

**Author's Note:**

> This story is part of the [ LLF Comment Project](https://longlivefeedback.tumblr.com/llfcommentproject), which was created to improve communication between readers and authors. This author invites and appreciates feedback, including:  
> Feedback
> 
>   * Short comments
>   * Long comments
>   * Questions
>   * “<3” as extra kudos
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